http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/heath-net-goes-into-meltdown/2008/01/24/1201025052926.html
Heath Ledger's death triggers net meltdown
Asher Moses
January 22, 2008
Heath Ledger's shock death caused one of the biggest internet
meltdowns since the death of Steve Irwin in 2006, with news sites and
search engines experiencing huge traffic spikes.
The 28-year-old Australian actor was found dead on Tuesday, face down
and naked at the foot of his bed in his New York apartment.
Unique browsers on smh.com.au rose almost 250 per cent compared with
Tuesday's figures and total page impressions jumped 60 per cent,
according to Nielsen NetRatings.
On theage.com.au, unique browsers and page impressions jumped by 75
per cent and 53 per cent, respectively.
On both smh.com.au and theage.com.au more than 60 per cent of total
page impressions yesterday went to stories and photo galleries on
Ledger.
Yahoo reported that four of the fastest moving search terms on its
Buzz index were Ledger related, with searches on the quickest mover,
"Heath Ledger", skyrocketing a staggering 110,285 per cent.
"A solid 62 per cent of those searches came from women, and the
biggest search traffic came from New York, Arizona, and California,"
Yahoo said.
The Google "Hot Trends" listing of the 100 fastest rising search terms
for January 22 contains 25 relating to Ledger, including seven in the
top 10.
Popular searches included Ledger's movies (including Brokeback
Mountain and A Knights Tale ; the names of his daughter and former
partner (Matilda and Michelle Williams, and his New York city address
(421 Broome Street).
Among the searches were many misspellings including Keith Ledger,
Keith Fletcher, Heath Leader, Keith Legend and Heath Fletcher.
A number of internet fansites devoted to Ledger melted down not long
after word of his death hit the news, but legions of Ledger fans still
paid their respects via groups and profiles on Facebook and MySpace.
Yahoo Buzz: top moving search terms
1. Heath Ledger
2. Healthiest Diet
3. Meg Whitman
4. Hal Holbrook
5. Rotten Neighbor Website
6. Top 10 Worst Movies Of 2007
7. Michelle Williams
8. 10 Things I Hate About You
9. Cate Blanchett
10. A Knights Tale
(As of Wednesday, January 23, 2007)
Google Trends: Fastest-rising search term
1. Heath Ledger
2. Keith Ledger
3. Michelle Williams
4. Heath Ledger found dead
5. Rotten Neighbor
6. Kate Voegele
7. Brokeback Mountain
8. Oscar Nominations
9. Matilda Ledger
10. Michelle Williams Heath Ledger
(As of Tuesday, January 22, 2007)
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/01/24/1201025052926.html
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